The present invention is related to a telescoping tool to aid in pulling wire through an opening during wiring installation in an existing premise.
During installation of new wiring in existing premises, it is necessary to pull the wire through openings in partition walls or ceilings. Typically, for long runs of wire, the installer will utilize a wire snake to pull or feed the wire through the partition walls and ceilings. For shorter runs of wire, it is common that the installer will utilize a metal clothes hanger, rebending the hanger to be elongated with a hook on one end to hook the wire and pull the wire through the opening. The use of such rebent wire clothes hanger offers disadvantages in that the elongated hanger may be difficult to manipulate through the opening to enable the hook to grasp the wire. Additionally, it is common that the hook on the end of the wire will catch on the edges of the openings or on other wires that may be within the partition wall. The use of such a rebent coat hanger requires very careful manipulation to retrieve the wire.
A number of telescoping retrieval tools have been proposed having a telescoping handle with a clip, adhesive member or magnet attached to the end to enable the tool to be extended and retrieve objects in places which are otherwise accessible. Examples of such telescoping retrieval tools are given in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,558,377, 5,647,623 and 6,065,787 among others. While U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,787 describes a hook attachment for the telescoping tool, the hook is described for use in retrieving clothes and similar items or objects with too great a mass to be retrieved by the magnetic or adhesive member.
There thus remains a need for an easy to use retrieval tool for pulling wire through openings in partition walls and ceilings during wire installations.
The present invention is directed to a telescoping tool to aid in pulling wire through openings during wire installation in existing premises. The tool comprises a telescoping handle having a plurality of individual sections stacked one within the other. Each section has a first exposed end and a second end contained within the handle. The exposed end of the inner most section of the telescoping handle is provided with a wire receiving hook attached thereto for hooking a wire and allowing it to be pulled through an opening.